Father of bombs

Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the "father" of Pakistan's atomic bomb, has been a controversial figure ever since he confessed selling nuclear secrets to countries such as North Korea, Iraq and Libya. Recently, UN investigators claimed that Khan may have been involved in nuclear programs in Syria, but most of his compatriots still see him as a hero. In a special interview with the Deutsche Welle in Lahore, Pakistan, the usually reticent Khan has spoken about the problems his country is currently facing.

The 'father' of the bomb

Khan was born before the partition of British India in the Central Indian city of Bhopal in 1936. He studied in Germany and the Netherlands and also worked in several European countries before returning to Pakistan to become the founding father of the country's atomic program. He was subsequently made the Director General of the Kahuta Research Laboratories, Pakistan's key program for uranium enrichment since the 1970s. Pakistan successfully carried out nuclear tests in Chaghi in 1998 and Khan’s expertise made him a hero among his compatriots, who saw the test as a fitting answer to arch rival India’s nuclear weapons program.

In 1998, the US Newsweek magazine published a report about Khan selling nuclear secrets to Iraq. In the following years, the US administration under President George W. Bush carried out investigations which found evidence that Khan had sold sensitive nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea, Libya and Iraq. Former Pakistani President Musharraf banned Khan from the nuclear program in 2004 after he confessed to the allegations. His confession caused uproar in the international media, prompting the US Time Magazine to dub him "The Merchant of Menace."

Khan was placed under house arrest in 2004. His arrest and the Musharraf-government's pro-US stance caused many political parties and citizens to rally in his support and turned him into a national hero. He was operated on after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006, prompting the Pakistani military to issue statements to the public that all was well with the "national hero." He was released from house arrest in 2009 after the government of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani dropped criminal charges against him.

No 'dirty games' for the nuclear wizard

Despite being frowned upon by the international community, many people in Pakistan still see him as a hero. Politicians have been courting him in the hope he will join their party and they can benefit from his name and fame. Khan says he has been approached by several political figures, including former cricketer Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf party and members of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP). In a recent exclusive interview with Deutsche Welle, he said he feels that politics is a "dirty game," but that he will not shy away from his obligations as a citizen. He is willing to help the government in solving problems, but he also notes: "I am like a fish swimming in the ocean and if you catch me and put me in an aquarium, I will be limited to being the king of the aquarium and nothing else."

Khan's hesitation about joining a party is caused in part by what he sees as a "lack of order" in Pakistan. He says that there haven't been any improvements in the past four years. He believes that if an honest leader has an honest, efficient and capable team, then Pakistan would improve as a whole. And he clearly sympathizes with Pakistan's most recent dictatorship.

"People used to keep criticizing the dictatorship, but seeing the government now, one feels that the dictatorship was actually great compared to this age of thieves and robbers," he says, hinting at the regime of General Musharraf, who took over the government in a coup nearly 10 years ago before Asif Ali Zardari was elected as President of Pakistan.

When it comes to policy on energy, Khan has his own ideas. The pioneer of Pakistan's nuclear program is surprisingly skeptical about the use of nuclear energy to satisfy Pakistan's growing needs because it is so expensive. Khan says one small reactor with a capability of 300 megawatts takes up to ten years to be delivered and costs about a billion dollars. "Countries like Germany and Sweden produce their own reactors and they get them cheap. Getting a reactor in Pakistan and paying for the maintenance will surely work out very expensive for us." He feels that Pakistan should instead concentrate on hydropower, as producing electricity from water is cheap and easy and Pakistan is rich in water resources.

Relations with India

Khan's popularity in his country is also attributed to his having made Pakistan capable of standing up to its neighbor and nuclear rival, India. When it comes to the core issue of the Kashmir conflict, Khan believes that people in the disputed region need to be more assertive about their situation, rather than allowing Pakistan or India to speak on the Kashmiris behalf.

Khan also feels that India and Pakistan will not benefit from another war, though the two have already fought three wars since independence and the partition of British India in 1947 - one in 1965, one in1971 and another in 1999. "Both countries are weak and the West will profit from a war between the two, because they can sell weapons to their fighters," he prophesizes, adding that China and Taiwan have never fought against each other, nor have the US and Russia exchanged live fire - not even during the peak of the Cold War.

The controversy over Khan is still not over. Driven by discontent with the Pakistani government's handling of the case and fears of nuclear proliferation, the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have insisted that Pakistan reveal the details of its government's investigation on Khan to the international community.

As of now, the US regards Pakistan as its most important ally in the war against terror in Afghanistan, but tensions between the two have been on the rise ever since US forces killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden close to the country’s capital, Islamabad. Many Pakistanis see the US raid as a violation of the country’s sovereignty, but Pakistan’s heavy dependence on international aid has forced its government to cow down to US demands and made it even more unpopular at home.

For his part, Khan feels that Pakistan need not become an enemy of the US, but that the relationship should be based on equality. He says Pakistan should stand up for itself and not act like a "slave" of its western ally.

Author: Tanveer Shahzad / Manasi Gopalakrishnan
Editor: Sarah Berning